Amusing Musings From the Wine Road

Perrier-Jouet Uncorks 20 Champagnes Spanning 178 Years!

Thursday, March 12, 2009
No one's ever said the wine industry doesn't throw great parties. And nobody throws better parties than the Champenoise.  Especially when it comes to popping corks on old vintages.

Last weekend I poured a bit of wine for a couple hundred people at the new wine shop in Grass Valley.  The event was fun and successful.  But it was nothing like the fete put on for a small group of hand-picked wine experts on the other side of the pond.

Twenty ancient bottles spanning 178 years were brought out from the cellars at the boutique Champagne House Perrier-Jouët.  There they were poured for a dozen of the world’s top wine and champagne experts (and arguably, 12 of the luckiest people in the trade) who'd been invited to taste 20 historic vintages.

World's Oldest Champagne (1825)
The tasting included the oldest bottle of champagne in the world (according to Guinness) - the Perrier-Jouët Vintage 1825 (photo at left).

Each sip would have been worth hundreds of dollars at auction, according to the Head of the International Wine Department at Sotheby’s, Serena Sutcliffe MW, who co-hosted the tasting with Perrier-Jouët Chef de Cave, Hervé Deschamps.

“It is virtually impossible to assign a value to the 1825 vintage – we’ve never seen anything like it on the market!    This was, quite simply, the opportunity of a lifetime tasting such exceptional, historic vintages.” 

And if ever there was a party interested in seeing such a wine on the market, it would be Ms. Sutcliffe of Sotheby's.  Or her counterpart at Christie's, though her work on this event means you'll ever raise a paddle on a bottle of P.J. at a Christie's auction.

Her presence also stakes the reputations of Sutcliffe and Sotheby's as to the authenticity of each bottle's provenance.  Though such concerns are relatively small when the wine comes from the producer's own cellar, this would not be the first time for such shenanigans.

Most Expensive - 1874
In addition to the world's oldest bottle of Champagne, the tasting also included the renowned “Perrier-Jouët 1874”, which earned fame long ago when it was became "the most expensive champagne in the world", a title it has held for 124 years, ever since it was sold at a world-famous auction in 1885.  I can't tell you if it stilll holds that title today, as my research time is short.  It would be amazing to learn the price paid in 1885 is still a record in today's currency.

The private tasting was a promotional event for the upcoming release of Perrier Jouet's first vintage Champagne from this century - the Perrier-Jouët Millesime 2002 (photo). 

Even at the Grande Marquees, the majority of bottles produced are non-vintage -they carry no date on their labels because the wine is crafted to reflect the house style year after year.  This consistency 

is achieved only through blending, the Cellar Master's artful use of different varietals, vineyards and vintages of still wine that constitutes the final blend in the bottle before its secondary fermentation.

Vintage-dated champagnes such as the Millesime 2002 from Perrier-Jouët, are produced only in rare and exceptional vintages.  And while I can only wish my reputation qualified me for such tastings, I'm pleased to see that even the likes of Perrier-Jouët take this occasion to pop the corks on old bottles from their cellar!

The Wines Tasted

• 1825 - "Liquid figs and mincepies, in other words, total addiction!"(Co-Host Serena Sutcliffe)  "The intellectual high-spot, but in terms of quality the least interesting."  (Richard Juhlin, Sweden)
• 1846 - NA
• 1858 - NA
• 1874 - "Shows there are still magical wines from this century!" (Richard Juhlin, Sweden)
• 1892 - NA
• 1906 - NA
• 1911 - "Gem of the Tasting!" (S. Sutcliffe, Co-Host) "The Winner!" (Richard Juhlin, Sweden) "Impressive complexity, fruit and energy" (Essi Avellan MW, Finland)
• 1928 - "Impressive complexity, fruit and energy" (Essi Avellan MW, Finland) "Miracle" (S. Sutcliffe, Co-Host)
• 1952 - "Miracle" (S. Sutcliffe, Co-Host)
• 1955 - "Impressive complexity, fruit and energy" (Essi Avellan MW, Finland) "Miracle" (S. Sutcliffe, Co-Host)
• 1959 - "Miracle" (S. Sutcliffe, Co-Host)
• 1964 - "Miracle" (S. Sutcliffe, Co-Host) "Close second to the 1911, Chevalier-Montrachet like" (Richard Juhlin, Sweden)
• 1971 - NA
• 1975 - "Marmalade" (S. Sutcliffe, Co-Host)
• 1976 - Nice Spiciness (S. Sutcliffe, Co-Host)
• 1982 - "Crystal Beauty" (S. Sutcliffe, Co-Host)
• 1985 - "True complexity shown" (S. Sutcliffe, Co-Host) "Toasted Beauty. Like drinking Spring itself!" (Richard Juhlin, Sweden)
• 1995 - "Crystal Beauty" (S. Sutcliffe, Co-Host)
• 1996 - "True complexity shown" (S. Sutcliffe, Co-Host)
• 2002 - NA

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] 

Quote of the Day:
"The night you open a '61 Cheval Blanc, that is the special occasion"

~ Virginia Madsen as "Maya", from the movie "Sideways"

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Box Wines to the Rescue?

Monday, February 23, 2009
A lot is being made of boxed wines lately.  This is largely because wine lovers are seeking value in their every-day quaffs.  Fortunately for the value-minded drinker, more drinkable wines are finding themselves inside boxes than just a few years ago.

Now I know that serving wine from a plastic spigot isn't glamorous.  And no, I don't have a box of wine sitting in my refrigerator - call me a hypocrite if you must.  But I'm neither offended by nor opposed to the idea as long as the wine is good. I'm not opposed to inexpensive wine, but life is too short to drink BAD wine, no matter what the price.

But I predict this will be the year the wine-buying public will embrace boxes for wines under $15/botle.  We may not see the rush to value that was the $2 Chuck of 2002, but I think alternative packaging will be the fastest growing area in the wine business.  I know I'll have those who challenge my contention - after all, boxed wines have been waiting their time in the spotlight since the 1980's.  But I think now is the time to throw one's predictive hat into the ring for Boxed Wine acceptance.  Here's why.

Why Boxed Wines Will Take Off
- Not all boxed wine is Franzia.  Thank God.  Decent wines are beginning to find themselves inside boxes these days. As a rough guide to quality, plan to spend more than $20 for 3 Liters in order to get wines you can enjoy for the life of the package.  Check out Black Box Wines, if curious.

- Boxed wines are already commonplace in Europe (see photo above, taken in a Loire Valley grocery store).  Just as they are in South America.  And Australia.  And Canada.  And virtually every wine-loving country except ours.  So much for the American pioneer spirit, eh?  Whoulda thunk WE'D be the traditionalists when it came to new wine ideas?

- Some of the newer packages are damned sexy (photos)

- Wine in a box is easier to carry to a picnic, and to smuggle into rock concerts.

- Wine stored inside a Mylar bag remains undamaged by oxidation for 3+ weeks after first opening.  (Click here to see the results of trials indicating a six week life for bag-in-a-box wines).  After opening a glass bottle, even when well preserved, wine lasts no more than a day or so before noticeable oxidation sets in.

Though the bag-in-a-box is not a good option for wines intended for cellaring, 95%+ of wines are intended to be consumed within 12-18 months.  And since 90%+ of American wines are from the West Coast, and many wine drinkers are East Coasters, a large part of our industry's carbon footprint comes from schlepping.  It seems increasingly clear that transporting heavy glass is a luxury we can no longer afford with inexpensive wines. Imagine the added burden on imported wines.

A standard wine bottle holds 750 milliliters and weighs just over 3 pounds when full.  Trucking three pounds of anything from the West Coast to NYC creates over 5 pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions.  Because a 3-liter box of wine replaces four glass bottles with less than a half pound of cardboard and Mylar, it generates about 80% less CO2 during its cross-country trek (www.aboutboxedwine.com). 

Now, since 97% of wine on the market today is intended for consumption within 12 - 18 months, our nation could eliminate the emissions-equivalent of 400,000 vehicles (about two million tons of CO2) by packaging such wines in a box instead of glass bottles.

Tetra Paks?
To help overcome consumer resistance to alternative packages, producers have adopted solutions that are less utilitarian than the Mylar bag inside a cardboard box, but which are more acceptable or attractive (see photo).  Such packaging comes in a wide variety of sizes, offers an impressive canvas for graphic options and is far lighter than glass.  But it still allows oxygen to contact the wine upon opening, and in that sense offers no benefits over its glass brethren.

The Glass Industry Strikes Back
I've run out of space and research time today, but I'm very interested in recent news headlines about lighter-weight glass bottles.  This new package might give alternatives a run for their money while offering a solution for wines to be cellared as well.  A topic for a different day.

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] 

Quote of the Day:
"What a decent boxed wine lacks in daily variety and prestige, it offsets with affordability and eco-friendliness.  Over the coming decade I think it will become the standard package for wines under $15."

~ Dave the Wine Merchant 

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Win a Free "Bottle Shock" DVD!

Monday, February 16th, 2009
The movie Bottle Shock is finally out on DVD.  Actually, it came out on February 3rd, after premiering in theaters last summer. 

Since its August release, I'd been asked many times for my opinion.  One friend was even kind enough to send me a logo T-shirt - they're quite nice, actually.  But I hadn't found time to see the film until a promotional copy arrived in January.

I have to say, I was negatively pre-disposed to the movie, based on its reviews and inevitable comparisons to my own licensed entity - the movie "Sideways".  But selecting your movies based on reviews may be as misleading as buying wine based on a Spectator rating.  I found the movie entertaining, despite its (seemingly inevitable, Hollywood) characateur-ation of a well-known Napa family.  Not to mention a few discomforting enophilic inaccuracies.

If you're reading these words right now, you qualify as a wine geek.  And, like me, you consider your geekhood a badge of honor.  As such, you are likely well familiar with this movie's plot.  But jut in case you're a wine geek who's been living under a rock...

...The movie follows two merging story lines - the first is that of the Barrets, a dysfunctional father-son team who own Chateau Montelena - then a struggling winery.  During the course of the movie (and no, this isn't giving away a mysterious ending), their Chardonnay rises to fame when it beats the best from France in the 1976 blind tasting now known as "The Judgment of Paris" (See George M. Taber's book by the same name). 

The second story line follows Steven Spurrier (portrayed by Alan Rickman), a British ex-pat wine merchant whose Parisian shop is empty of customers.  To increase revenues, Spurrier decides to visit Napa so he can select wines to be tasted against the best of France in a blind tasting he was organizing as a promotional even for his store/wine school.  He'd invited some of the most respected palates in France to participate, though he had no idea it would become the most famous blind tasting in the world.  In fact, Taber (writing for Time magazine) was the sole journalist who deemed the event worthy of coverage.

All told, Bottle Shock is an amusing movie that will appeal to many wine lovers, despite a few scenes that will invoke slaps to the head.  And the wine country scenery makes it well worth watching (and Taylor/Dushku don't hurt, either).  Now, on to the contest.

How To Win Your Free DVD
Enter before the end of the week.  We'll randomly draw three entries from those getting the correct answers and contact you for mailing instructions.

Sorry Entry Deadline Was Feb. 20, 2009!

	In what year did this famed tasting occur?*		Select10271776181218551969197619791984
	Who was the only journalist in attendance at the tasting?*		SelectWilliam SafireCalvin TrillinRuth ReichlJames LaubeGeorge M. TaberKingley AmisSteven SpurrierJancis RobinsonHarvey SteimanRobert Parker
	What was the name of the Wine Merchant who staged this famous tasting?*		SelectDave the Wine MerchantKermit LynchSteven SpurrierGary VaynerchukRichard Dawes Fine Wine LtdChambers Street WinesTailleventParis Wine MerchantAlan Rickman
	Whose Chardonnay did the French judges place #1?*		SelectCharles ShawStags LeapBeringer BrothersChateau MontelenaScreaming EaglePahlmeyerMondaviGrgich HillBeaulieu VineyardSutter Home
	Whose Cabernet Sauvignon did the French judges place #1?*		SelectCharles ShawStags LeapBeringer BrothersChateau MontelenaScreaming EaglePahlmeyerMondaviGrgich HillBeaulieu VineyardSutter Home
	What was the most notable repurcussion of the contest's outcome?*		SelectThe disgruntled U.S. replaced the term "French Fries", with "Freedom Fries"The disgrunteled French boycotted all American productsNew World wineries gained prestige worldwideWaiters in Parisian cafes abandon their well-known charm and became rude to American tourists"Joe" (Eliza Dushku) rode bartending fame to star in the new TV show "Dollhouse"
	Your First Name*
	Last Name*
	Email Address*
	I don't care to receive email specials from Sideways Wine Club.
	What Type of Wine do you drink most often?		Cabernet Franc Cabernet Sauvignon Chardonnay Merlot Pinot Gris/Grigio Pinot Noir Sauvignon Blanc Viognier I prefer more obscure varietals!

Good Luck!

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] 

Quote of the Day:
"I'm not really an asshole.  It's just that I'm British...and you're not"

~ Alan Rickman as Steven Spurrier in the 2008 film "Bottle Shock" 

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Paraskavedekatriaphobia - A Wine for Friday the 13th

Wednesday, February 11, 2009
It's a good word, paraskavedekatriaphobia.  It refers to someone with a fear of Friday the 13th.

Even as a kid I had fun with the superstitions surrounding Friday the 13th.  That's when I began to notice most of the unfortunate occurrences attributed to superstitions were normal events that simply stood out when one's mindset was predisposed for disaster.

This "pre-disposed mindset" was the subject of an amusing short story I recall from my youth.  It featured a young Midwestern boy (much like myself, at the time) named Homer Price.  In this particular short story, a snake oil salesman by the name of Professor Atmos P. H. Ear (a wonderful play on words) blew into town, and then just as quickly, left town, as is the wont of such salesmen.  This particular charlatan was selling shakers filled with a lifetime supply of an odorless, weightless, tasteless and invisible flavor enhancer called "Ever-So-Much-More-So". 

When sprinkled on a common doughnut, the fried ring was suddenly the BEST doughnut ever tasted.  When added to a common cup of diner coffee, the bitter brew suddenly transformed into a transcendent morning eye-opener and mood-enhancer.  Of course, the salesman was simply able to bring his customers to focus on what they were tasting, and in so doing, they re-appreciated the flavors they'd bome to take for granted.  And in so doing, he also sold a lot of cans filled with air.

This story appealed to me because it's an amusing and well-told tale.  But also because it helped me see the human foible - that everything tastes better when we pay attention to our food.  You know where i'm going with this, I suspect.  Sometimes we discover anew an old favorite, just by focusing on it at the expense of everything else.  A partner, for example.  Or our kids.

Or a good glass of wine.

One of the exercises I lead at the beginning of my wine classes might be called "Ever-so-much-more-so".  It focuses our attention on each wine's unique aromas and flavors and it's always an eye-opening experience, if you'll allow me to mix my sensory metaphors to make a point.

Our noses and tongues were once critical to our survival - indicating which food sources were safe and which were deadly.  Now that we buy food at a store, and most of it is safe (peanut butter aside!), we have less to worry about.  So food scents and flavors have faded into the background noise of our busy lives, and we're content with rather bland, salted, sweetened, and processed foods that fit nicely into our hectic lives.

So on this Friday the 13th, I invite you to slow down and smell the wine.  Enjoy a meal, perhaps following the old meditative practice of preparing a meal in silence, with no TV, radio, phones or conversation, paying attention only to the aromas and flavors of your ingredients.  If it sounds weird, that's because it is, but you'll be amazed at the amplification that occurs in your senses.

Or maybe I'm just superstitious.

"Ever-So-Much-More-So" Wines

Tarrica Wine Cellars, 2007 Pinot Noir, Monterey ($16.50) -

This is a surprising wine that offers true Pinot pleasure at a fraction of the cost for most pinot noir hailing from Monterey county.  This prestigious pedigree normally justifies a price two or three times this amount, and while this wine would have difficulty standing up to its big brothers in a blind taste test, it offers a lot of value for not a lot of coin.

Torbreck, 2008 Cuvee Juveniles, ($24.50)

I happily discovered the Torbreck wines over a year ago.  An Australian producer that pulls fruit from all over the Barossa Valley, this particular wine is a blend of the classic Rhone varietals, with Grenache in the lead.  The fruit comes from old vines, and I mean really old - some having celebrated their centenarian birthdays years ago - which lends a depth and intensity to this young, un-oaked wine.  And no, the 2008 vintage is not a typo, but keep in mind the Southern Hemisphere harvests during our spring, so this wine is almost a year from its harvest so don't worry about bottle shock - it's been in bottle for many months now.  Drinking very nicely right now!

Cima Collina, 2006 Pinot Noir, Tondre Grapefield Vineyard ($48)- This wine is at the other extreme from the affordable Tarrica, offering a truly transcendent wine made even more so with even the most feeble of attempts to shut out the world and focus on its aromas and flavors, which evolve and develop for as long as you can resist finishing the bottle.  Not a wine for everyday drinking - at least, not for most of us - but a wine that makes a any celebration ever-so-much-more-so.

Any or all of these three wines will suffice as proof of the ever-so-much-more-so phenomenon, with flavors and aroomas that evolve over the course of an enjoyable evening.  But if you decide to test the theory this Friday, I mean, just in case, don't do so while sitting under a ladder, or looking in a mirror, or with a black cat in the room, or with an umbrella open indoors, or the number 13 anywhere in view, or...

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] 

Quote of the Day:
"The root of al superstition is that people observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses."

~ Francis Bacon, Sr.  (1561-1626) 

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Fighting Vainly The Old Ennui - Wine and Valentines?

www.zwani.com

 

Monday, February 9th, 2009 - "Fighting vainly the old ennui" - as I write this I hear Jamie Cullum's voice singing that phrase from the Cole Porter song "I Get a Kick Out of You".  And after two weeks of being bombarded by thousands of of pink-and-red heart-themed ads for everything from tires to premium membership at Marketing Profs, I find myself battling a Valentine's Day ennui.  Which is not good for an online wine retailer.  I should be jumping into the fray, unleashing my own barrage of cupid-born messages.

I'm still a big fan of celebrating love in all its various and sundry forms, as long as the celebration is sincere.  But really, how many red-heart-infused ads can we see before the words "I love you" fail to conjure the sense of excitement that is their birthright? 

So today's posting contains no heart images.  No flying babies with bows and arrows.  No doilies.  No pink or red typeface.  Just the news that West Coast customers who order by noon on Wednesday will still receive wine in time for weekend festivities, whatever you have planned.

Click here to see my most recently recommended wines. 

Or click here for my recommended sweet wines.

And what better way to express your love for someone than through a languorous evening of great food, wine and conversation?  In that spirit, I've copied here a recipe from my February shipment to club members.  It compliments a wide range of red wines, and warms the coldest of hearts on a winter night.

Salt-Roasted Porterhouse

This recipe was inspired by Govind Armstrong at “Table 8” in Los Angeles.  If you’re like me, you'll worry that smothering a steak in salt will yield tough, dry meat similar to beef jerky (or shoe leather, but then I repeat myself).  Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.  By forming a hard barrier, the salt seals the meat's juices inside.  You then crack open the salt crust and discard it before carving - sort of a low-cost version of clay pot cooking that rewards the home chef with a moist and tender steak. 

The spice rub takes a leaf from the playbook of our pulled pork recipe that was so popular last summer, producing another meal you’ll long remember.  Add a great bottle of pinot and a loved one and this just may form a perfect winter memory.

Ingredients
2 Bay leaves, crushed
1 Tbsp whole peppercorns
2 tsp Whole coriander seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp dried rosemary (or t Tbsp chopped fresh)
½ tsp dried crushed red pepper
1 ½ Cups (plus 1 tsp) coarse kosher salt
2 large Porterhouse or T-Bone steaks

Procedure
Mix the first seven ingredients well.  Transfer 2 Tbsp of the mixture to a spice grinder and grind well – to a fine powder, then mix in 1 tsp of the salt, keeping this ground mixture separate from the whole spice mixture.  Rub the finely ground spice mixture all over the steaks, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 3 hours or up to 8 hours.

Preheat your oven to 475.  Mix the remaining “whole” spice mixture with 1 ½ Cups kosher salt in a medium bowl.  Add a scant ¼ Cup water and stir to moisten the spices.  Unwrap the steaks and place them in a large roasting pan, then pack the salt-spice mix over the top and sides of each steak, leaving the bottom (pan-side) unsalted.

Roast for about 25 minutes or until the internal temperature registers 130 degrees.  Remove from oven and place on a cutting board, cover loosely with a tent of foil and let sit for 8-10 minutes. 

When ready to serve, crack open the salt crust and discard.  Turn the steaks over (to the more tender, un-salted side) and slice into ½ inch thick slices.

Enjoy with loved ones old or new.

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] 

Quote of the Day:
"Without love, what are we worth?  Eighty-nine cents!  Eighty-nine cents worth of chemicals walking around lonely."

~ Hawkeye Pierce, in the TV show M*A*S*H

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Wine for the Bacon Explosion! (A super Bowl recipe?)

Thursday, January 29th, 2009
In case you are a vegetarian, or have been away from your crackberry for the last few weeks, the food world has been a bit surprised with the collective hunger pangs caused by a recipe buzzing around the Internet.  Even the NY Times covered it in its venerable Dining and Wine Section, which reports that 16,000 web sites (now 16,001!) have linked to the recipe at the BBQ Addicts website.  We're watching history here, folks - no other recipe has been disseminated to so many in such a short period of time.

Called "the Bacon Explosion" by its creators, the popular recipe may have generated more clicks in the past week than the Super Bowl and the Oscars, combined.  OK, perhaps not, but estimates exceed 14 million hits. 

BTW, if interested in preparing this hunk of pork for your favorite meat eater, I think the BBQ Addicts site provides the best step-by-step instructions (surprisingly, only 415 diggs as of this morning).

What Wine Goes With Bacon Explosion?
Which brings me to today's email from a member asking what wine I'd pair with this "dish".  Actually, it's pretty easy.  Most any red wine will work well if it features sweet, ripe-fruit flavors.  I'd opt for medium bodied wines, and avoid pairing this mouthful of flavor with your more precious bottles.

From there, the perfect pairing depends on whether you used sweet sausage or hot sausage in your roll and sweet or tangy BBQ sauce.  If your preferences lean towards hot sausage and tangy sauce, look for low alcohol wines (below 14.5% for sure) as the alcohol will fight the spicy heat in your particular version of the bacon explosion.  Plus, your tangy sauce is likely acidic, and you'll want a wine with higher acidity to stand up to it - I hate to sound like a broken record, but a pinot noiror Italian Reds from a warmer growing region are likely to be the perfect match.  Also, Zinfandels from cooler regions where lower alcohol reigns supreme.

If your tastes lean towards sweeter BBQ sauce and sausage, then opt for a ripe Syrah or other Rhone blends.  The smoker used to prepare the Bacon Explosion resonates with these wines, whose latent talents include amplifying the toasted oak flavors from their barrels - a great bridge to the smoked meat.  Or try a riper Zinfandel or Shiraz that offers jammy fruit and higher alcohol and a peppery spice that flatters this smoked shaft of porcine meat.

Oh, and a decent merlot could work well too.

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] 

Quote of the Day:
"Excess, upon occasion, is exhilarating.  It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit."

~ Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965)

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The Cheese Cupid - A Cheese and Wine Pairing Guide

Friday, December 12, 2008

I have to admit, I'm a fan of California cheese.  The happy cows and all that (see video, above).  But I stumbled across a site that will be useful for any lover of wine and cheese.  It's the Wisconsin Cheese Cupid site, which does a nice job of showing what cheeses pair well with specific varietals.

One caveat - the site is fairly well dumbed down, relying on lots of eye-catching flash images and audio pronunciation guides instead of informative text.  But the pairings seem reliable, and will likely help you avoid pairing disasters.  For as you likely know by now, wine and cheese pairings are not a slam dunk, and can sometimes be downright offensive.

Know of other wine and cheese guides?  Please share them in the comments section, below.

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Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] or
[email protected]

Today’s Quote:
"The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down mouse holes with baited breath." 

~ W.C. Fields (1880 - 1946)

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Holiday Recipe Flash - Steamed Persimmon Pudding

A Chambers Family Recipe - Steamed Persimmon Pudding
How many times must one make a recipe before it becomes their own?  Once?  Ten times?  Fifty?  Whatever the answer, I think I'm agey enough and have made this wonderful steamed pudding often enough to call it a family recipe, even if I did get it from the wonderful Marion Cunningham at her cooking class in 1997.

Although I currently carry no wines that will nicely compliment your Thanksgiving dessert (which call for a nice ice wine, Vin de Glacier, or late harvest dessert wine!) I can't resist sharing this recipe with you.  Call it repayment for having read this far.  If you can overcome the hurdles necessary to get this pulled together, you'll find that it is a family favorite at your house too.

This recipe is In the great tradition of England's "Figgy Puddings", though that requires some explanation.  The English term "pudding" is synonymous with our term "dessert".  And Figgy Pudding implies a dessert made from figs that has been steamed - originally while wrapped in several layers of cloth.  Figgy Pudding was a rather downscale holiday dessert.

This dessert is anything but downscale.  It still relies on several hours of cooking in boiling water, but inside a metal mold - either the fancy version shown at left, or an ad-hoc version consisting simply of an old coffee can or two.  Enough ado.  Here's the recipe.

 

Ingredients

1 cup pureed persimmon (~ 2 large persimmons, skins removed)

2 tsp. Baking soda

8 Tbs (1 stick) butter at room temperature

1.5 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbs lemon juice

2 Tbs rum

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. Cinnamon (I like to double this amount!)

½ tsp. Salt

1 cup broken walnuts or pecans

1 cup raisins (I like to mix regular and golden)

Fill a kettle large enough to hold a 2 Qt pudding mold with enough water to come halfway up the sides.  (2 coffee containers covered tightly with foil will do - fill only ¾ full as the pudding expands.)  Let the water come to a boil over medium heat while you mix the pudding batter.

Grease the mold well.  Every nook and cranny.  Butter is best. 

 

In a glass mixing bowl, combine the persimmon puree and baking soda.  Set aside while mixing the other ingredients (the persimmon mixture will stiffen).

Cream the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs, lemon juice, and rum and beat well.  Add the flour, cinnamon, and salt, and stir to blend.  Add the persimmon mixture and beat until well mixed.  Stir in raisins and nuts.

Spoon the batter into the mold, cover tightly, and steam for approximately two hours.  I've had my best luck finishing the pudding in a 350 oven for about 20 minutes before letting rest for 10-15  minutes and then unmolding.  Re-heat just before serving, and top with unsweetened whipped cream, or a crème Anglais.  For added celebration, warm 2 Tbsp of rum in a sauce pan for ten seconds, light and immediately pour flaming rum over top of unsliced pudding.  Take to table in a darkened room and allow to expire (flame lasts for 20-40 seconds, so work quickly!)

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I find it less intrusive and time consuming to receive news via my Google or Yahoo desktop than email.  Here's how to receive my latest "Amusing Musings" whenever they come out:

How To Add (Time required?  ~1 minute):

1. Highlight and copy this URL http://www.sidewayswineclub.typepad.com/blog
2. Open a new browser window and go to (or create) your MyYahoo! or iGoogle page
3. On MyYahoo! - Click on the green plus sign for "Add Content"  (sample image at right is not live, by the way!) Look for the "Add RSS Feed" image towards the bottom of the resulting frame (see sample at right).  Paste the URL from above into the line and click the orange "I'm Done" button
4. On iGoogle- Click the "Add Stuff" button on the far right, then click the "Add feed or gadget" on the left frame.  Copy the URL into the text box and click "Add".  That's it!

You'll find my latest posting appears within your desktop on a weekly(ish) basis!

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Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] or
[email protected]

Today’s Quote:
"What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets.  I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?" 

~ The Immortal Erma Bombeck (1927 - 1966), from "No One Diets on Thanksgiving," 26 November 1981

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An Open Letter To President Elect Obama

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Dear President Elect,

Congratulations on your hard-won victory.  Now the work begins, and in the weeks ahead you will be making some much-publicized appointments. 

I know how things work in D.C. -- I make big donations to your campaign and you appoint me some cushy position in the new Administration.  And I've done my part, donating more than double the amount of your average donor.  And now it's payback time - I'm here with my hand out, humbly requesting that you honor your part of the deal.

An Ambassadorship to one of the world's wine growing countries would be nice.  France or Italy would be our preference, though I imagine we could settle nicely in Spain or Germany or Austria as well. 

Of course, you may already have candidates in mind for these posts, and I'm not sure how much political currency is in my account after a $200 donation and a few phone calls.  So if I'm over-reaching, allow me to suggest a more humble position - that of White House Sommelier.

All kidding aside, I hope you agree that your new wine steward should build the white house cellar to showcase the diverse wines of our great nation.  There are many exciting developments in the 6,000+ wineries found in our various American Viticultural Areas - from those on the West Coast to those on Long Island and everywhere in between (including over 70 wineries in your own Great State of Illinois.)   The vast majority of these producers are small family-run affairs, with all the vagaries of agricultural uncertainty adding to the usual stresses and strains of the small business experience.  Want to meet an American business hero?  Look no further than the small winery owner.

The White House cellar should reflect the best efforts of these most venerable entrepreneurs.  I urge you to select your Sommelier not only for his or her wine knowledge, but for his or her zealous enthusiasm and promotion of these American businesses at every state dinner.

Cheers!

Dave the Wine Merchant

P.S. Should you have difficulty in making your selection, I've taken the liberty of polling a few opinions - see what the blogosphere has to say... (can't see the survey?  Link to it here.)

Online Surveys & Market Research

Syrah Palin? A wine even Joe the Plumber could love.

Thursday, October 23, 2008
There is a wide range of people who enjoy wine.  I've popped corks with delightful people with very different religions, races, socio-economic and political stripes.  So I everything I can to keep my personal politics out of my business.  But when my news readers deliver something like this to my desktop (Thank you Mr. Peare!), I simply can not resist.

This fascinating tidbit of wine news came from a most unlikely source (Fox News).  They had come across a wine suffering a sales decline in San Francisco due to its unfortunate name - the Palin Syrah.  The wine was not created as an homage to a certain hockey mom-come-Veep-candidate.  It's not even pronounced the same way - Pay-LEEN, not PAY-len.  But you can't tell that from the label.

In the complete article about this happenstance, Fox News shines their Fair and Balanced spot light on the fact that the wine is flying off the shelves in "the Republican stronghold of Texas", but suffering in the more liberal city of San Francisco.

The Fox article states "The wine was once a strong seller, but now it's an outcast in the City by the Bay because its name comes way too close to a certain governor from the state of Alaska", says Celine Guillou, co-owner of the Yield Wine Bar.

Given that today's polls a gap between the candidates that ranges from just 1% all the way to 10%, perhaps monitoring sales of the Palin Syrah is a more accurate barometer than hoards of statistical pollsters.

But I think it unwise and unfair to encourage such a thing.  After all, some Chilean winegrower put a lot of time and effort into this wine, and Berkeley Imports is surely sitting on a goodly supply.  Who are we to tie their success to the fortunes of one struggling party at election time? 

Let's just enjoy the wine for what it is - an affordable and enjoyable wine to assist in your November 4th party, whether celebrating the victory or the defeat of this namesake candidate!

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                               Get Amusing Musings sent to your desktop!

I find it less intrusive and time consuming to receive news via my Google or Yahoo desktops than email.  Here's how to receive my latest "Amusing Musings" whenever they come out:

How To Add (Time required?  ~1 minute):

1. Highlight and copy this url http://www.sidewayswineclub.typepad.com/blog
2. Open a new browser window and go to (or create) your MyYahoo! or iGoogle page
3. On MyYahoo! - Click on the green plus sign for "Add Content"  (sample image at right is not live, by the way!) Look for the "Add RSS Feed" image towards the bottom of the resulting frame (see sample at right).  Paste the url from above into the line and click the orange "I'm Done" button
4. On iGoogle- Click the "Add Stuff" button on the far right, then click the "Add feed or gadget" on the left frame.  Copy the url into the text box and click "Add".  That's it!

You'll find my latest posting appears within your desktop on a weekly(ish) basis!

---

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] or
[email protected]

Today’s Quote:
"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us."
~ Joseph Campbell (1904-1987)

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